Dance Lessons
by Smenzer
Summary: The funny tale of how Ciel learned the Shinigami Haken dance from the second musical. There is a side plot of the servants stealing death scythes and using them for crazy things. No real pairing except Grell likes Sebastian and will do anything for a kiss, even teach Ciel how to dance.
1. Chapter 1

Dance Lessons

Note: I was watching "The Most Beautiful Death in the World" yet again. It's the second Kuroshitsuji musical but I presume you know that if you're reading Kuro fanfiction. Anyway, at the very end when they sing the last song and come out on the stage to give bows, Ciel does the Shinigami Haken dance with Grell and Ronald (same moves, different song plays). It made me ask when Ciel learned that dance and why. Technically Sebastian dances with them right after that, but this fic will focus on how Ciel learned the dance.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. This is just for fun.

"Young Master, I have your breakfast prepared." Sebastian said smoothly as he came to wake Ciel. "Today we have Earl Grey tea, scones with blackberry jam, and wedges of cheddar and a healthy salad of freshly picked greens. You will have dance lessons at three so you may work on your Funtom business until then."

Ciel frowned at the mere idea of dance lessons as his butler quickly dressed him. "Can't we reschedule the dance lessons, Sebastian? I'm in no mood for them today."

"But Bocchan, you already rescheduled them four times. I fear Mrs. Brown will grow upset if you reschedule yet again. She will think you are avoiding her on purpose." Sebastian's nimbler fingers did up the buttons on Ciel's expensive frock coat and tied the bow about his neck. "Now we don't want to insult her, do we?"

"No, of course not, that would reflect badly on us. But dancing is so dull and boring!" Ciel continued to frown as he got to his feet, taking up his walking stick. "You know I hate dancing, waltzing and all of that nonsense. It's enough to put me to sleep."

"But you are expected to learn it, Young Master. I realize you possess two left feet, but that is no excuse not to learn."

"I do not have two left feet!" Ciel exclaimed loudly, his single blue eye flashing with outrage at his butler's words. "You think it's funny, well, it's not! It's not my fault that I haven't all the years of experience you do! How old are you, over a thousand years? And I suppose all of those years you've been dancing and so when I stumble in my very first lesson ever, you laugh. That's not fair."

The demon tried not to grin but the corners of his lips went up anyway. "But if you never practice, you'll never improve."

"Fine, fine, I'll take the stupid lessons!" Ciel huffed in annoyance as he left his bedroom and walked down the staircase to his waiting breakfast. "Is that why you gave me the blackberry jam today, as a bribe? You generally don't give me sweet things in the morning."

"I was hoping it might work." The demon admitted as he helped seat Ciel and then poured the tea. "I will be gone most of the day I'm afraid, so I have arranged for a baby sitter in my absence. The servants and I must go out for supplies as we are running low on mostly everything it seems. It will be a long, dull trip to London so I'm sure you'd rather stay here."

"A baby sitter!" Ciel exclaimed, shocked as could be at the unexpected words. The hand holding the scone smeared with the sweet jam froze halfway to his mouth as his single blue eye grew as large as a dinner plate. "I don't need a baby sitter! I'm twelve years old!"

Sebastian raised a white gloved hand to his forehead at the loud outburst, a weary expression on his face. "You may be twelve, but you cannot do anything yourself. If your shoelace should come untied in my absence, you could not tie it and thus you may trip and injure yourself. A tumble down the main stairs could even kill you. And who shall fetch your lunch?"

A smidgen of red crept into the young earl's cheeks at the embarrassing words. "Very well. I do need someone to fetch my lunch and possibly a snack. Who did you find? It had better not be some imbecile."

"Just anyone won't do, Young Master. The person I acquired has the ability to protect you in my absence, since you favor getting kidnapped so often." The demon smiled. "I have your lunch and the snack already prepared. All he will have to do is serve it to you."

"He?" Ciel glanced up, suddenly suspicious. "It had better not be who I think it is!"

"Never fear, Bocchan, cooking will not be required."

"If I have to put up with him, then give me more jam!"

The demon sighed but spooned out another portion of jam as well as an extra scone. "I fear all of this sugar will have a bad affect on you. It will make you feel restless and then your work will falter, but if that is what you insist on…"

Ciel gazed at the extra scone with jam with great pleasure and pride, and then his happiness faulted. "I had better save this for a snack, just in case the lunch you prepared ends up on the floor…"

"I'm sure he will be more "deadly efficient" in his true form than in the bumbling human disguise."

000

"Hey!" Ronald Knox called to Grell as the redhead emerged from his apartment in the Shinigami Realm. "Grell-senpai, do you want to go to the nightclub with me? It's rare when we both have the day off and we should go have some fun!"

Grell glanced at the younger man, who was blonde with black hair near his ears and gave a wishful expression. "I would, except I promised someone I'd babysit today."

Ronald's green eyes grew large in surprise as he ran to catch up with him. "You know somebody with a baby?"

"The "baby" is twelve-years-old. It's the Phantomhive brat, Ciel." Grell explained as he strolled down the long corridor, his death scythe in hand. He was dressed in his regular outfit of white shirt, grey waistcoat, the bright red coat he stole from his former mistress's corpse, a red-and-white striped fabric tie tied in a bow about his neck, black pants and red-and-black heeled boots. His long red hair swung freely behind him and a cloud of perfume followed in his wake. He had fixed himself up with makeup, of course, including long fake eyelashes. His nails were painted red but were hidden under his black gloves. "He's always getting kidnapped so Sebastian asked me to keep an eye on him today while he goes shopping for groceries."

Ronald looked at him with interest. "You're always talking about Sebastian but I never met him. Are you sure you can trust a demon?"

"Of course I can." Grell replied with confidence. "Why don't you come along? I could use the company."

The blonde reaper considered this for a moment and then agreed. "Do I need my death scythe? I see you have yours…"

"He must get kidnapped about once a week…" Grell exaggerated with a roll of his eyes. The redhead waited while Ronald ran back to his room and grabbed his lawn mower. Carrying it on his shoulder with ease, the two opened a portal and leaped down to Phantomhive.

"Wow! What a swanky place!" Ronald exclaimed as he took in the expanse of trimmed lawn, the neat landscape of blooming rose bushes and elegant trees. The driveway lead up to a gurgling fountain and the huge manor attested to the young earl's wealth. "I bet he must throw some fancy parties! No wonder you hang around him."

Grell snorted, almost laughing. "Ciel throw a party? You have got to be kidding! The boy is morose beyond belief! He hates dancing and prefers to sulk in the gloom of his misery. The only thing he seems to enjoy is catching murderers for the Queen."

"Oh…" Ronald's happy expression sagged as he took in the truth. He dutifully followed Grell up the steps to the front door, the red lawn mower resting on his shoulder. He was a bit nervous of meeting the demon, as he had never actually met one before, but he trusted Grell's word that it would be safe. "I can't understand why anyone would hate parties and dancing…."

"He's too young to understand the attraction of the opposite sex." Grell shrugged it off, not really caring. "I doubt if he knows what love is."

"But senpai, one doesn't need love to dance and have a great time!" Ronald protested as he watched Grell use the ornate doorknocker. Even the doorknocker impressed the blonde. "One can just listen to the music and go with the flow. Or do what Eric does, which is hang out while eating and drinking."

"I think it's hard to do that if you're depressed."

"Or maybe it's that dark demon he's always with depressing him…."

Before Grell could reply to Ronald's anti-demon statement, the door opened to reveal Sebastian in his butler finery. His black uniform was as perfect as ever, the silver buttons shining and the cuffs snowy white. His black tie was perfectly knotted and the chain from his pocket watch gleamed. His soft black hair fell about his face and his eyes were a lovely shade of red.

"Sebas-chan!" Grell exclaimed with obvious glee and threw himself forward at the demon in question. Instead of side-stepping as he usually did, this time the demon caught the redhead in his arms, allowing him to hug him for a brief moment. Then he was held at arm's length so the meeting couldn't precede to anything more than a brief hug.

"Good morning, Grell-san." Sebastian said coolly as his ruby eyes took in the blonde reaper standing on the doorstep looking uncertain. "And who is this?"

"This is Ronald Knox, my subordinate and sometimes partner." Grell explained as he waved a hand in Knox's direction. "We both have the day off so he volunteered to help guard Ciel."

"How nice of you, Ronald-san." The demon bowed in the blonde's direction, a smile on his face and invited him in with a wave. "Please come in. I have breakfast prepared and feel free to help yourself."

The two Shinigami followed Sebastian into the manor, Ronald looking around in awe at the impressive large home. They were led to the dining room where Ciel was just finishing breakfast. The young Earl was dressed in a dark blue outfit with black trim. His black eyepatch was secure over the eye with the contract mark on it.

"I shall be leaving then, Bocchan," Sebastian said as he bowed to the young child. "Please refrain from getting yourself kidnapped in my absence and remember the dance instructor will be coming at three. I should be back before then, of course."

"Enough about the darn dance instructor!" Ciel glared at Sebastian, clearly annoyed. "Only complete idiots go to dances anyway!"

The demon turned to the two Shinigami. "The Earl's lunch and a snack is already prepared in the kitchen. You just need to serve it to him. I trust you recall where the kitchen is, Grell-san?"

"Of course, Sebas-chan!" The reaper grinned showing a mouth-full of sharp shark-like teeth. "I shall be a deadly efficient butler in your absence!"

"Very well. I shall be leaving now." Sebastian gathered up the three other servants and shooed then out the door as he tucked a long list into his pocket. With a final glance at his young master, he went out the door and closed it behind him.

The earl glanced at the two Shinigami and his eyes then fell on Ronald's lawn mower. "What is that thing?"

"This? It's my death scythe." Ronald explained as he showed it to the young lord. "It has the shape of a lawn mower. I guess you know what a death scythe is?"

"Yes, yes I do." Ciel's face seemed to go dark for a moment as if thinking about something and then let it go. He stood from where he had been eating, picked up his walking stick and started to head for the stairs. "Don't mow my carpets. If you do, you're paying for the damages."

"Hey!" Ronald protested hotly, his green ringed eyes going wide at the sharp words. "I'm not some kind of idiot!"

"My servants ARE idiots and they WOULD mow the carpets if they could." Ciel stated as he paused on the staircase. "Except Sebastian, they're all imbeciles."

"No wonder you're depressed." Ronald replied as he took in the young boy's gloomy words. "Do you want to go to a party with me and Grell?"

"I detest parties." Ciel replied as he continued up the stairs slowly. "It's all stupid nonsense. Besides, I have paperwork to do in my office."

Poor Ronald gasped at this, nearly falling over in shock. If there was one thing Ronald loved, it was parties. He clung to the handle of his precious lawn mower and then collapsed to the floor, clinging to his chest with one hand as if dying in dreadful pain.

"I told you." Grell said with a wave of his hand as he swept past Ronald and followed Ciel up the stairs. He paid no attention to Ronald's act, as he knew the other was joking about.

The blonde scampered to his white dress shoes and then dashed up the stairs after the redhead. The two soon found themselves in Ciel's office. There was a large wooden desk near a window and Ciel settled behind it, his back to the window. A stack of some papers were on his desk and it was this he was going to work on. He had the finest fountain pens, real India ink, a blotter and all of the other office supplies he needed.

Grell glanced about the office and spotted a lovely sofa with ornate carvings and scrolled walnut legs against one wall. It was exactly the kind of expensive piece he expected the earl to possess in his home and the reaper took a moment to admire it. The sofa's back was carved in a lovely serpentine arch and the material covering it was of the finest velvet. Even better it was red. Grell happily seated himself, crossing his leg at the knee as if he were a girl. He set his chainsaw on the floor and leaned back, relaxing.

Ronald stood in the doorway, uncertainly. He then walked over to Grell and stared down at him. "So what do we do now? We're not just going to sit here, are we? That's so boring!"

"We wait until the Earl wants something." Grell replied as he gazed up at Ronald. "It would be better if Sebas-chan was here, of course, but he did let me hug him earlier! Ah, I knew he loved me!"

Ciel opened a folder and started to read the contents.

Five long, incredibly boring minutes passed; boring for Ronald but peaceful for Grell who had his eyes closed. The blonde reaper glanced from Grell to Ciel who was still studying whatever it was in the folder. Soon his feet started to shift about, easily moving through a series of steps. He moved closer to Grell and poked him on the leg with the tip of his shoe. "Senpai, let's dance."

Grell opened his green eyes and focused them on the younger man. "Here?"

"Yes, why not? Maybe if we show him that dancing is fun he'll want to go to the party with us. Just think of all of the fun we're missing! It's so rare when we get a day off…"

The other reaper grinned, showing off his pearly white shark teeth. He stood and moved out into the center of the floor facing Ciel's desk. Ronald moved to stand near him. The blonde then snapped his finger. "We can't dance without the music! Good thing I brought my little portable player…"

Ronald removed the little black device from his jacket pocket and pressed some buttons, hurrying to set it on the sofa. Soon the music that they danced to every morning started to fill the air of the silent office. The music was lively, very different from the string and piano music that Ciel heard at the social gatherings he was forced to attend. The two started the dance, first marching in place, saluting and twisting at the waist as they turned first this way and then that. The steps matched the lively rhythm of the music.

The unusual music, so full of energy, caused Ciel to lift his head from the product reports he had been reading. He had never heard anything like that before and then seeing the two moving about like they were doing, well, caught his attention. The report was forgotten as the new type of dancing woke him out of his boredom. Was those drums, cymbals and horns he was hearing? The young earl looked about his office in clear confusion, half expecting to see musicians had snuck in during the last few minutes and had set up without his notice – but there was none he could see. Was it some magic, some type of witchcraft? He knew Sebastian could do amazing things and realized that the reapers were a tad unusual as well, but make music out of the air itself?

He forced his eyes back onto the two dancers and saw Grell make a heart with his two hands as he sung something about paid vacations if you met someone handsome. Ciel thought it sounded just like the annoying redhead. It was no secret he fancied Sebastian even if the young earl was clueless as to why. And truthfully he really didn't care. However it did allow him to use Grell as a pawn at times and that was good. It had allowed him to save Elizabeth from Drocell.

The dance continued and they swung their arms about and did more marching in place. Then they cried "Let's go" and did another bit that included putting the elbow on the palm of the other hand and waved the fingers. The young boy sat wide-eyed and tried to keep track of it all but it moved so fast! They made the moves look so easy and natural, too. Before he knew it, he realized he was actually tapping one of his feet along to the music. His blue eye grew even wider then. What was wrong with him? Was it that extra bit of jam Sebastian had given him or was it just the lively music that made him feel so .. so … strange?

The song ended and Grell raced up to his desk with girlish steps. Placing his black gloved hands on the desk's surface, he leaned forward, grinning broadly. "Well, Your Lord, what do you think?"

Ciel fought down the urge to yank his head away from the too sharp teeth that was now just mere inches away. He noted they looked especially dangerous, just like his chainsaw. "Was that dancing? If so, I've never seen anything like that before."

"Reapers are known for dancing wildly…" Grell explained as he pulled back and waved a hand about in the air. "We are more advanced than humans, you know. We have modern conveniences that won't be invented for several decades at least if not a century. Like Ronald's music device. We can play the music whenever we desire and don't need an orchestra."

"Come on, admit you loved it!" Ronald cried as he too hurried up to Ciel's desk. "I heard you tapping your foot! It means you liked it!"

"Well, I…" Ciel paused, his face feeling hot suddenly. It wasn't his style to admit liking stuff, especially music and dancing. He loathed dancing with a passion.

"We'll teach you how to dance!" Grell cried without warning as he dashed around Ciel's desk and grabbed the stiff lipped earl by his wrist, physically hauling him out of the chair. The redheaded Shinigami seemed especially wild, his eyes more yellowish now than green. His stolen red coat floated about his body as he moved, his hair swaying with his movements as if alive.

"What? Wait!" Ciel protested loudly as he was dragged to his feet, his arm feeling like it might be pulled out of the socket if he didn't cooperate. He recalled how wild Grell could become and the fact he could be psychotic as well. His aunt had trusted him and she had ended up dead. The blonde, well, Ciel knew nothing about him at all. If the redhead went nuts, which side would he take?

"Yes!" Ronald leaped high in the air, kicking his heels up. "Then we can go to the party!"

"Look," Ciel managed to pull his hand free of Grell's grasp and stood in front of his desk. "I appreciate the fervor but I'm afraid it's wasted effort. I can't dance, at all. I've tried and only made a fool of myself. Even Sebastian thought it was funny."

"Oh, but this kind of dancing is different!" The redhead exclaimed as he bent down to peer at the young boy. "It is not a highly structured waltz where you must move with a partner. Instead it is made of many simple movements! Can you march in place? Can you salute?"

"Well, I suppose so…" Ciel frowned, sure he was walking into a trap. If he weren't careful, he'd end up taking dance lessons from these two. "But I highly doubt I could do all that…"

"Of course you can!" Grell insisted as he grabbed the boy by his shoulders and moved him further from his desk. "Now just copy our movements. We'll do it one step at a time and then you'll see how easy it really is!"

Ciel frowned as he listened to the redhead squeal with excitement. Geez, did everything excite him? Still, he found himself cautiously lifting his feet one at a time in the marching bit at the beginning. He had to admit it wasn't that hard at all and his two left feet were not bothering him – yet. Then he had to spin on his one foot while trying to turn his body the other way. That was a bit trickier as it required balance. But thanks to the highly waxed floor he could do it after several tries. They then had him practice the moves he had learned in sequence and only then did they teach him the next move.

"So, what do you think so far?" Ronald asked him a bit later when they stopped for a tea break. "Do you like our kind of dancing?"

"Surprisingly, yes, I do." Ciel admitted as he accepted a cup of tea from Grell. He stared at the rich reddish-brown liquid suspiciously as he knew the redhead had made it, but it smelled all right. He slowly raised it to his mouth and took a small sip. To his relief, it tasted as it should and then took a bigger swallow.

Grell had been hovering nervously at his shoulder, watching with rapt attention to see if he had been successful in his tea brewing. His hands were folded in prayer against his chest, right under his chin almost and he was leaning forward a bit. When he saw the earl drinking the tea, he sighed in relief.

"I like that there's no girls or cooties involved." Ciel stated as he reached for a piece of the banana bread that Sebastian had left for a snack. Technically the butler was supposed to put it on his plate, but it was enough of a miracle that Grell had got it here to the office in one piece. Asking for more would be tempting fate.

"Cooties?" Ronald asked, his face twisting up in confusion. "What in the world is that?"

"It's some nasty disease you catch from girls…" Ciel explained matter-of-factly as he daintily used his silver fork to slice a bit of the banana bread on his plate. "This other wealthy lord told me about them. He's about a year older than me."

Ronald busted out laughing, bending at his knees and pointing a trembling finger at Ciel. "And you believe such nonsense? Mahahahahaha!"

"Oh, that just ridiculous!" Grell huffed as he put a hand on his hip. "There is no such thing as cooties! There are fleas and lice and mites and other sickness like the flu but the cootie one is made up!"

"I'm not touching any girl unless I have to!" Ciel stated boldly as he folded his arms across his thin chest, his single blue eye hard and cold with its determined gaze. "I don't see why the Lord Trancy would lie to me on such a dire matter. Besides, I don't like girls anyway. They're loud, annoying and like too much pink, frilly stuff to my tastes."

"The Lord Trancy?" Grell exclaimed wide eyed. "That brat is a liar! He's not even the real Lord's son!"

"I don't care." Ciel stated. "I'm still not touching any germy girl!"

"Oh, I see why dear Sebas-chan has such a hard time getting you to waltz…" Grell tapped a finger on his chin as he thought about the problem. "And I suppose dancing with Sebas-chan is out as he is too tall for you…"

"And that last dance teacher that was here smelled funny, like weird ointment." Ciel wrinkled his nose at the horrible memory. "I swear she was old enough to be my great-grandmother and I had to repeat everything I said three times before she heard it."

Ronald fell off his chair, laughing.

"Oh, you must have turned down all of the other good ones…" Grell commented.

"I reschedule."

The break ended and Ciel learned more of the dance steps, his self confidence growing with each new bit he learned. Within another hour he was shocked to realize he had actually learned the entire dance and could dance it easily now to the music. And even more amazing was the fact that he was having fun! The music was full of energy and unlike anything he had heard before. He really didn't see why Sebastian couldn't play this type of music for dancing instead of the boring waltz stuff.

"Let's go to the party now!" Ronald exclaimed with excitement in his voice.

"Where is this party?" Ciel asked, curious.

"It's in the Shinigami Realm, at a nightclub." The blonde reaper explained. "There's music, dancing, food, drinks and girls!"

"Am I allowed there?" Ciel asked cautiously. He recalled clearly the dour grim man that had rescued Grell on that fateful night. He didn't seem the type to allow broken rules to slip by and that included humans where they didn't belong.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine." Grell dismissed the worry with a casual wave as he picked up his chainsaw and grabbed Ciel with his other hand. "We're Dispatch Officers so it should be OK. Everyone will be too busy dancing to notice anyway."

Ciel still felt unsure but decided he wanted to see this party anyway. He watched as Grell opened a portal – which was a big white glowing circle that hung in the air – and then Grell leaped through, pulling him along. They landed on the other side and the young earl looked about with interest. There was a street and streetlights except the lights were off due to it being daytime. The lights, he noted, looked different. He was quickly hauled towards a big building and Ronald ran to open the door. Loud thumping music came out and he was pulled inside before he could protest.

It was black inside and at first he had thought he had gone blind but then he saw colored lights that shot out of the ceiling. Ciel's mouth dropped open and he gawked in surprise at the display.

"Generally I prefer something more refined than this place…" Grell said as he continued to hang onto Ciel's hand. "But the light show must seem very impressive to you, yes? It can get a tad annoying, but it never seems to bother Ronald."

Ciel then turned his attention to the people that were in the nightclub place, if that was the right word? Everyone wore glasses, he noticed. And they were hopping about or waving the arms…maybe they were trying to copy the dance he had just learned without success?

Ronald appeared at his elbow then and offered him an ice cream. Upon seeing the sweet treat, his blue eye lit up and he happily reached for it.

"See? Parties can be loads of fun if you go to the right ones." Ronald leaned casually against the wall behind him, smiling. "No annoying dance cards to fill if you don't want to, no boring waltzes, no social chitchat to dull people and no worries you may make a major blunder. I usually come here after work and meet the secretaries from our office. Then we dance the night away."

The more Ciel watched the people, the more he felt the dance moves were familiar. "Are they doing the same dance we did earlier?"

"Oh, so you noticed!" Grell exclaimed, sounding surprised. "Well, they are trying to do it, but they don't know the exact moves you see. They'd all like to be Dispatch Officers as we are the top of the top but alas, they do not qualify."

"The stage is empty." Ronald pointed as he grabbed a startled boy by his wrist. "Let's show them how it's done!"

"What? Are you insane? I'm not going to dance on some stage!" But Ciel quickly learned his protest meant nothing as the two eager Shinigami dragged him forward through the crowd. All too soon they were there and he was prodded up a pair of steps. The crowd hushed as they realized a show was about to happen and everyone pushed forward to see better. He could hear their confused whispers as they pointed at him and he didn't like it. While he was used to being in the public eye, he knew he didn't really belong here in the Shinigami Realm and his lack of proper spectacles made him stand out way too easily. So Ciel did what he always did, glare at them coldly as if they were dirt under his boot. And before he knew it, he was standing in position between Ronald and Grell.

And then the music started.

000

Sebastian studied his pocket watch, frowning. It was almost three thirty and he had hoped to be home hours ago, but nothing had gone right. There had been delay after delay and then the wheel had fallen off of the wagon! To top it off, the stores and markets had been especially crowded and he was lucky he had gotten what he did. "I do hope the young master took his dance class on time…"

He was just pulling the wagon into the driveway of Phantomhive when he saw Mrs. Brown leaving in her carriage. He frowned, knowing she shouldn't be leaving so early at all. The dance lesson was to be at least an hour long. "Excuse me, Mrs. Brown, but why are you leaving so soon? Did something come up?"

"This is the last time I ever come out here!" Mrs. Brown shouted at him with anger in her voice. "I waited a whole half hour for someone to let me in and no one did! I suspected Earl Phantomhive was avoiding lessons and now I know it's true! That rude boy will never learn to dance, never!"

Sebastian's face fell at the heated words. Then worry started to eat at him. Why hadn't someone answered the door? He was sure even incompetent Grell could answer a door! Had something happened to the young master? The demon apologized for his master's rude behavior and hurried to the manor as quickly as the heavily laden wagon could go. Leaping down, he raced inside but it was soon clear that the house was deserted. The only things he found were a strange red lawn mower in the master's office along with his abandoned paperwork. A snack and tea was set out, the tea drank and only crumbs left from the banana bread. "So they were here. They ate the snack and then something happened…"

He closed his eyes and sought out the contract. No matter where Ciel was taken, he could always find the boy through the contract. To his surprise, Ciel was not in the mortal realm but the Shinigami one. Had his baby sitters kidnapped him? But then, he didn't sense any panic or fear through their link.

Quickly telling the servants to put the groceries away, he informed them he needed to go rescue the young earl yet again.

"Oh, has he been kidnapped yet again?" The cook asked with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. "Ya want to borrow some dynamite?"

"No thank you. That is not required." Sebastian assured him.

"I do hope the Young Master is OK!" Mey-Rin said with a worried look on her face. "Them people you let in earlier looked mightily weird, especially that one!"

"Yeah, he looked kind of familiar…" Bardroy said as he scratched at his chin. "I've been trying to recall where I saw the bloke and can't."

"Never mind that. Please put the groceries away."

Sebastian then made sure he was alone and not being observed. Once he was satisfied, he opened the portal and leaped through. He soon found himself outside the nightclub and went in. Once his red eyes adjusted to the darkness with flickering colored lights, his jaw dropped open in utter shock. "Young Master can actually dance?"

Ciel was up on the stage dancing with Grell and Ronald. Even more amazing was the fact he looked as if he was enjoying it!

"I thought Master had two left feet? Perhaps there is hope for him after all. But then he disobeyed and missed the waltzing lessons in favor of this other dance style."

People in the crowd began to notice something ominous, a dark energy in the room. A few Shinigami turned and saw Sebastian standing there. "DEMON!"

The cry spread through the room and several hundred Shinigami all ran towards the exit, causing a huge pile up. Everyone was trying to squeeze through the door at the same time. Being of lower rank, they didn't have death scythes to fight a demon, so they tried to flee.

"Oh my," Sebastian said to himself as he stared at the pile up. "That will not work. Only one can fit through that door at a time…they are like rats fleeing a burning building."

"Sebas-chan!" Grell cried as he leaped at his favorite demon, a grin on his face.

"Grell-san, you were supposed to watch Ciel." The demon said with a frown as he pulled the eager reaper off of himself. "He missed his dance lesson with Mrs. Brown."

"Is it that late already?" Grell pulled out his pocket watch and checked it, surprised to see what the clock said.

"Grell-senpai is never on time!" Ronald laughed.

"Now who will I ever get to teach you to waltz, Young Master?" The demon said unhappily as a worried look appeared on his face. "And I went through so much trouble to get this last one, too. I'm afraid I simply don't know of any other dance instructors. You have insulted all of them by constantly rescheduling the lessons endless times!"

"I don't need dance lessons any longer." Ciel said boldly when he approached his loyal servant. "I learned how to dance."

"Alas, that kind of dancing is not suitable for social functions, Young Master. You must learn the waltz. I'm afraid people would think you mad if you did that dance in public. Still, your two left feet seem to have vanished…"

"I'm not catching any cooties from some germy girl!"

"Cooties, My Lord? Sebastian stared in confusion at Ciel. "What in the world?"

Ronald guffawed as he pointed a finger at Ciel. "He's scared of girls!"

"I am not!" Ciel shot a dirty look at the blonde. "I don't want to catch their girl disease and go insane about pink, fluffy stuff. It's revolting."

"Well, I will have to find someone…" The demon moaned unhappily. "Unless I could teach you?"

"No, absolutely not! We tried that already and you're too tall!"

"But…" Sebastian managed to say.

"I refuse to dance with another man!"

"You refuse to dance with a man but girls have cooties and thus are out as well? What does that leave?" The demon looked truly perplexed.

"That's your problem." Ciel simply said. "You're a demon. Solve it."

"Oh my, I hope I'm up to this rare challenge…"

By the time Sebastian and Ciel returned to Phantomhive, they discovered that the three servants had enjoyed themselves by running around the entire manor with the lawn mower. The expensive carpets had been mowed, the thick plush ruined and fuzz was everywhere. The demon looked at the disaster and sighed. He would have to repair it all later with his powers.

The death scythe, of course, was promptly locked up. Ronald would have a difficult time getting it back now.

And Ciel was pleased to find that the blonde had left the magic music box behind. That unfortunately for Sebastian caused even more problems. Ciel took to playing it that night in bed, the noise going throughout the home. The servants, hearing the strange sounds, were convinced it was some evil spirit out to get them and thus ran around shrieking. And that made Ciel angry, who started to yell at Sebastian. The matter was solved when the demon fixed the volume control and set it to low. Ciel could still hear the music but it was soft and gentle now. "And if you don't go to sleep, Young Master, I shall be forced to take your new toy away."

000

"Bocchan, I am pleased to announce I found a dance teacher that fits your requirements!" Sebastian said a few days later. "I admit I enjoyed the challenge!"

Ciel's blue eye widened in surprise. "You found someone? Really? I thought we ran out of dance instructors?"

"I thought so, too, until I inquired." The demon smiled as he bent forward to pour the tea. "Today we have peppermint tea. It will give you energy for your dance lesson, which will be very soon…"

"What? Now?" The young earl took on a panicked expression and his gaze shot about as if searching for an exit. "You couldn't have possibly met those requirements! I refuse to touch a girl and get cooties!"

"I assure you, Young Master, this person is one hundred percent free of cooties."

"How can you be so sure? You can't see cooties."

The demon sighed but pressed on. "I will explain once the new teacher arrives."

The door knocker sounded then and Sebastian excused himself to get the door.

Ciel sat at the dining table as he tried to enjoy the strong tea but he felt nervous, too. He really didn't want to catch cooties or have to dance with some strange woman. He heard heels clicking loudly on the floor and knew there would be no escape now. He slid out of the chair and straightened his frock coat the best he could. He would look presentable for whoever it was. The footsteps grew closer and he hoped the person would not reek of weird scents like that one had.

And then he almost fainted at what he saw.

It was the insane redheaded Shinigami except he was wearing a red and black dress, his hair partly piled on his head in some fancy hairdo with a feathered decoration.

"What is that?" Ciel demanded once he found his voice.

The demon grinned and bowed, holding a white gloved hand out towards Grell. "Your new dance instructor, Young Master. As a divine being, she cannot have "cooties" and she is not a man, therefore she fits your requirements as a teacher."

"I am a she, not a "that"!" Grell complained as he eyed Ciel.

"You're actually wearing a DRESS!" The young earl seemed horrified by the idea, most likely due to that disturbing event at Druitt's party and the pink dress he had been forced to wear.

"I enjoy wearing dresses." Grell informed him as he spun in a circle to show the dress off. It had ruffles, lace and lots of sparkling sequins on it. A long split in the front showed off his legs, which were in net stockings. "They're so much prettier than my work clothes, don't you think? Of course, a young child such as you can't appreciate it."

"I shall leave you to the dance lesson, Bocchan." Sebastian smiled evilly and then exited the room. He was sure this time Ciel would learn how to dance. If Grell and Ronald could teach him how to do that wild dance, he was sure Grell could teach the waltz as well. And if the student refused to cooperate, he … oops, she could always threaten with the chainsaw. The demon was sure Ciel would snap to then.

Yes, Sebastian was sure it was going to be a good day.


	2. Chapter 2

Dance Lessons 2

Epilogue

Ronald woke up the next morning with his head buzzing from a hangover. Once people realized the demon had left with the sour human in tow, they had crept back into the nightclub and he had partied until the early morning hours. Truth be told, he had stayed far later than he should have, chatting and flirting with numerous secretaries and other cute girls from the office. But the sun had risen and so the blonde Shinigami had dragged himself out of bed, showered, gotten dressed and reached for his death scythe … only to realize he had left it at that fancy manor and not just any manor, but Phantomhive; the one with a resident demon. A cold dread filled him then and his face grew pale. He imagined the trouble he'd be in if William found out. "He'd give me a month of overtime for sure!"

His hangover cleared instantly at the horrid idea and he dashed out the door, his white shoes sliding on the smooth corridor floor. He hurried to Grell's apartment door and banged on it with his fist, nervously checking his watch every few seconds. He needed the redhead to go with him down there as the demon was his friend really. The moments ticked by as the second hand went round and around the watch's face, Ronald growing more and more uneasy. He pressed his ear to the apartment door, listening for the slightest sounds of movement within and heard nothing. He hadn't seen Grell at the party last night, not after the demon had appeared and left with the human kid. Had he gone with them? Had he been out all night? Was he sleeping now unaware of the time? "Grell-senpai, wake up!"

The blonde waited anxiously for several more minutes and then tried the door. To his relief, it was not locked and he darted within – only to find the room empty except for the redhead's usual mess of clothes, makeup, perfume, shoes and other things tossed about in random chaos. The scent of perfume was strong in the air, as if he had just missed the other by a short time. Ronald frowned and stomped on the floor in agitation. "Now what am I going to do? I don't want to face that demon by myself, not without my death scythe!"

Hurrying back out into the hall, he saw two other Dispatch Officers heading to work. The two best friends were walking slowly and chatting, their death scythes resting on their shoulders casually. Relief fled trough Ronald upon sighting them. "Eric! Alan! You got to help me! A demon has my death scythe!"

"How did that happen?" Eric asked as he came to a stop as Ronald ran up to them. "I thought you had the day off yesterday?"

"I did. But I agreed to help Grell babysit and it was at that demon's house. I … I sort of forgot it there…" Ronald could feel the heat rising up into his face now. How could he have been so stupid? "I know it was incredibly stupid and I won't ever misplace it again, but I really don't want William-san to find out! He'd force me to do overtime! But I don't want to face that demon on my own weaponless either…"

Alan stared at the young blonde in shock. "You went into that demon's house?"

"Grell said it was safe and it was, but I just forgot my lawn mower there…and Grell-senpai isn't in! Who knows where he went off to?" Ronald wringed his hands in worry, checking his watch again. "We only have about fifteen minutes to get it and come back…"

"Don't worry about it." Eric patted Ronald on his shoulder. "We'll go with you and see that the demon gives it back, right, Alan?"

"Of course…" Alan replied but looked unsure himself.

"I'd like to see this famous Sebastian anyway…" Eric commented with a wry smile as he motioned for the other to create a portal to Phantomhive. "Grell's always talking about him."

Ronald sighed in relief and made the portal. The three Shinigami jumped through and landed outside the huge manor. They headed up to the front door and stopped before it on the top step. Ronald took a deep breath, trying to force his nerves back to where they belonged. He really didn't know why he was so jumpy now, as Sebastian had seemed harmless enough yesterday and hadn't threatened him in any way, not really. It was just he felt so naked without his death scythe and now he knew the demon had the upper hand! But he gritted his teeth and knocked on the door firmly with the ornate doorknocker.

000

"Oh, who could that be?" Sebastian said to himself as he paused on his way to the kitchen, turned and headed towards the front door. He passed by Ciel and Grell, who were trying to waltz somewhat unsuccessfully.

"Ow!" The redheaded Shinigami cried in pain. "A gentleman is not supposed to step on the lady's feet!"

"Well you're standing too close!" Ciel shot back at him somewhat angrily. The young Earl looked very unhappy as he clumsily moved around the floor in halting steps as he attempted to lead Grell in the dance. He felt weird dancing like this and he disliked it strongly. Truth be told, it was embarrassing beyond belief and the fact that the redhead was weird didn't help any. He didn't feel comfortable at all with his hand on the other's waist even if that's what the dance called for.

"But this is the waltz, darling; we're supposed to be close!" Grell grinned revealing his shark teeth and batted his long eyelashes at the young boy. "It's a dance of romance!"

Ciel twisted his face in utter disgust at the words.

"Now don't make such a horrid face! It's not proper at all. You'll frighten your dance partners!"

Ciel tried to twist his face even more, hoping that the redhead's words would prove true. Maybe then he would leave and the dance lesson would be over. But to his dismay, the reaper in the odd-looking dress only grinned.

"You'll not be rid of me that easily! Sebas-chan promised me a kiss if I'd teach you to dance and I am determined to get it!"

Ciel groaned, his hopes of escape plummeting. Then his sharp mind thought of something else, a new way to get out of the lesson. "So you work that cheaply? You're not even worth a pence or a farthing? Did my Aunt ever pay you or did you do that for free, too?"

The green seemed to vanish from Grell's eyes as they turned more yellowish, his mouth grimacing in anger. "Why you little brat!"

Ciel's single blue eye widened in horror when he saw the redhead whip his chainsaw out of the air. How he had managed to hide it in that tight, form fitting dress the young earl didn't know, but it was something he hadn't counted on. Turning, Ciel ran shrieking the other way with Grell in hot pursuit.

000

Sebastian opened the door and gazed at the three Shinigami blankly. "Yes? I am afraid Earl Phantomhive is busy at the moment and cannot be seen…"

"Look, demon, I just want my death scythe back." Ronald explained as he stared the demon in his creepy crimson eyes boldly.

"Ah, yes, the monstrosity you left behind carelessly yesterday…." Sebastian glared at the now startled blonde. "Why should I give it back when you leave it lying about where humans can get their hands on it? It has caused a great deal of trouble."

"Did someone get hurt?" Alan quickly asked with concern in his voice.

"No, it is not that…"

Sebastian's words were cut off by a blood curdling shriek from within the manor.

"SEBASTIAN!" Ciel shouted above the sounds of heels hitting the polished wooden floors. Then there was a loud crash of breaking glass and a girlish gasp of shock.

"Young Master! Watch out for that wax I just dropped!" Mey-Rin shouted.

The three Shinigami and Sebastian hurried within the manor just in time to see Ciel running as quickly as his short legs could carry him, a look of wild panic in his single exposed blue eye. Grell, wearing a black dress with red ruffled trim with a long split down the front center of the skirt, was right behind him, the chainsaw held high in the air and roaring. Unfortunately, Ciel didn't see the spilled wax and stepped right in it. Instantly his foot slid out from under him and he sped forward even faster, truly shrieking now. The wild redhead stepped in it a second later and lost his balance as well, his heels slipping and sliding due to the wax. The reaper lost his grip on the chainsaw and it went flying from his hand, the deadly weapon tumbling end over end. Finally it sailed through the window, breaking the glass in a magnificent crashing sound and vanished from sight. A moment later Ciel collided with the plaster wall and then Grell crashed into him from behind. Finally the two collapsed onto the floor, moaning in pain. Cracks zigzagged through the plaster and chunks of it rained down on the two individuals who lay there, arms and legs spread outward.

"Oh dear…" Sebastian said sadly as he checked his pocket watch. "The dance lessons didn't even last ten minutes. Bocchan, you must really try harder."

"I see little black crows circling…" Ciel said in a dazed voice, pointing a trembling hand at the imaginary birds.

"Grell-senpai, are you all right?" Ronald asked as he hurried to his mentor's side, his lawn mower forgotten for the moment.

The redhead sighed. "I'll live. That kiss better be worth it!"

Sebastian bent over the injured reaper and gave him a dazzling smile. Grell instantly recovered, leaping to his feet and carelessly tossing the poor earl onto the hard floor. Stars danced in Grell's green ringed eyes and blood ran from his nostrils. "Oh, Sebas-chan!"

The reaper took one step and instantly fell to the floor again due to the coating of wax on the bottom of his heeled red shoes.

"Oh dear, now I have even more things to repair and it seems Young Master may have a concussion…" The demon sighed as he eyed the new damage. "I will get behind schedule…"

Eric gazed about confused. "What kind of place is this?"

"It is a daily occurrence I'm afraid." The demon replied as he bent to pick Ciel up off the floor and attempted to get him to stand. "Could you help hold him while I check for injuries?"

"Of course." Alan laid his death scythe down and quickly stepped forward to help, Eric joining him. The young boy swayed in their grasp, his balance unsteady.

Sebastian started to feel on Ciel's body, checking for broken bones or anything else that might need to be treated.

Mey-Rin eyed the long device lying on the floor. To her it looked very much like a boat oar except it was extra long and her bad eyesight didn't let her see the sharp blade along the one side of the "oar". She shifted her bad gaze to the crowd around the young master and saw to her delight that they were all busy. And so she snuck forward, bent low and grabbed the thing by the one end, hauling it towards herself. Once she had it, she hurried off before anyone could see. "This is just want I need to get cobwebs off the ceiling, yes it is! I'll just toss a dust rag over the one end. It'll be perfect! Sebastian will be so pleased!"

"Well, it looks like Young Master will be fine. He just needs to walk off this concussion." Sebastian said as he removed the soiled shoes off of Ciel's feet so they could be cleaned. He then did the same to Grell. "Grell-san, would you be kind enough to help Ciel recover, since you are partly responsible for this mess?"

"But he started it!" Grell pointed out, annoyed.

"That as it may be, you are the adult and thus you should act like one. You shouldn't allow his words to rile you up or don't you want that kiss?" Sebastian ran a white gloved hand through his hair, which had the desired effect on the reaper.

Grell jumped to his feet and grabbed Ciel, wrapping an arm about him so he could walk him around the room. The young boy clung to the redhead's side as he started to walk very much like a drunk tossed out of the pub in the wee morning hours.

"So how about my lawn mower?" Ronald asked as turned to the demon. "Can I have it back now?"

"Oh, very well, but please keep a better eye on it." The demon hurried to a nearby closet, unlocked the door with a key and pulled the lawn mower out. Carrying it over, he handed it to the blonde.

"Yes!" Ronald cried with glee as he grabbed his death scythe by its handle. He then checked his watch. "We have five minutes to spare. We better hurry back or William-senpai will notice we're all late!"

"Wait…" Alan said as he turned about in obvious confusion, glancing down at the floor around him. "Where's my death scythe? I laid it down right here and now it's gone!"

"Well, the demon didn't take it." Eric said as he indicated the demon butler with his chin. "I was watching him the entire time."

Sensing something else was wrong, Sebastian turned to his guests. "Now what is the problem?"

"My death scythe is missing!" Alan explained as he pointed to the floor where he had left it. "It was here and now it's gone!"

The demon sighed. "It seems the servants seem to think they're wonderful toys to play with. I shall have to go see who has taken it."

"Toys?" Alan gasped. "But they can kill people!"

"I am afraid I am not that lucky." Sebastian said in a somewhat weary voice.

KA-BOOM!

A cloud of billowing black smoke poured forth from one of the doorways as the entire house shook. The few final shards of broken glass clinging to the smashed window gave way, falling to the floor.

"What the heck was that?" Eric asked as he gawked at the dark cloud billowing into the room.

The cook then poked his head out into the room, his face and clothes smeared with black. Oddly enough, the bit of cigarette still clung to his bottom lip. "Hey Sebastian! I think I just blew up the stove! Do you have another one by chance?"

"We will have to cook on the grill outside until I can purchase a new one…" The demon replied. "Bardroy, how many times have I told you not to use dynamite for cooking?"

""Twas not dynamite, it was gunpowder! You never said I couldn't use that…it was just that lunch time is sneaking up right soon and I wanted the Earl's lunch to be ready is all…"

The smoke started to clear and Eric noticed a figure up at the top of the staircase, near the railing. It was the maid. She had the long-handled garden slasher, a rag over the blade end and was clumsily waving it about in the air for unknown reasons. As far as he could figure, she was trying to get a clump of cobwebs up near the ceiling. She stumbled then and the weapon fell out of her hands. It fell through the air, the rag coming free to reveal the shining blade. Before it could hit anyone, Sebastian easily leaped up and caught it. He then presented it to Alan. "Do be more careful with it."

"Mahahaha!" Ronald laughed as he pointed a finger at Alan. "Your death scythe is a duster!"

The demon grinned evilly at the blonde, his eyes glowing red with black slits. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Wait until you find out what yours was."

A chill traveled down Ronald's spine and he quickly shut up. He tightened his grip on his precious lawn mower and inched towards the open door. "I … I think we should be going now."

Taking charge, Eric shooed Alan and Ronald outside before any more mishaps happened. They ran down the outside stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. The group came to a stop when they saw two servants nearby, arguing.

"Well, I saw it first!" Finney the gardener said as he fiercely tugged on the handle of Grell's chainsaw. "I could use this thing, whatever it is, to trim trees! There's lots of dead branches that need to come down before they fall and hurt the poor little birdies!"

"Yeah, that may be…" Bardroy the cook said in reply as he too tugged on the handle. "But I could use it to chop up this hunk of beef! Sebastian said we gotta use the grill now and there's no way that big hunk will fit on it. That sucker looks like it'll cut right through the bone and all!"

"But I found it!"

"Doesn't matter. Food comes first!" The cook replied as he accidentally hit a button that turned it on. The blade came to life, growling and spinning around rapidly. "Yeah, this thing will do nicely! You can have it after I cut the meat."

"But it'll be all bloody then!" Finney whined unhappily.

"And Sebastian doesn't want sawdust in the Young Master's food! He'll kill us for sure!" A grin spread on the cook's face then. "And if we're good, he might let us eat the leftovers!"

"FOOD!" Finney cried happily and let go of the death scythe. "Hurry up and slice it so I can do the trees!"

The two ran off towards the rear of the house, laughing with excitement.

From within the house they heard the maid's voice.

"Where did that thing go I was using for dusting? I swear it landed around here somewhere. Sebastian! Do you know where that big boat oar went?"

The Shinigami didn't waste any more time but quickly created a portal to the Shinigami Realm and leaped through it. Once they were safe, the three breathed a sigh of relief. They had escaped from the demon unscathed and had their death scythes.

Ronald dashed into the office just as the hand on his watch hit the hour. "YES! I made it on time and not a second late!"

Eric came up behind him. "You know, you better check your death scythe over. It sounds like the servants might have had their hands on it."

"Awww, their just humans!" Ronald laughed as he put his lawn mower onto the floor, as he had been carrying it on his shoulder. "What could they possibly do to it?"

He pushed it forward then on its wheels and a huge puff of fuzz shot out the rear end, flying up into the air all around him. The fuzz, of course, was from Ciel's expensive carpets which the servants had mowed. The demon, not liking the unnecessary repairs he had been forced to do (unnecessary as Ronald should have taken his death scythe with him when he left) had magically stuffed all of the mown carper fibers into the mower. Ronald gasped in shock, his mouth dropping open and his green-yellow eyes as large as saucers. "What the …?"

Alan coughed and waved his hand in the air, trying to push the fuzz away. Eric quickly grabbed him and led him to a cleaner part of the room.

Ronald, who was now covered in bits of different colored fuzz bent over his lawn mower in confusion, gaping at it open-mouthed in shock. The fibers were very obvious against his neat black suit, which truthfully wasn't so neat looking any longer. And it was in his hair as well. And as he stood bent over, he could see more fuzz sticking out the bottom end. His heart sped up then and his nerves started to jump, his stomach getting that odd feeling he hadn't felt in ages. The humans hadn't broken his death scythe, had they? He flipped it over then to see the bottom and shrieked. "It's full of fuzz! My death scythe is full of fuzz!"

"What's going on here?" William T. Spears demanded to know as he stood there with his usual dour expression. "Knox! What's the meaning of that outburst?"

"I…" Ronald gulped as he quickly stood up, red faced. "It seems my death scythe is, ummm, damaged?"

Spears strode forward and stopped before Knox. He peered downwards at the upside-down lawn mower and adjusted his glasses. A large amount of multi-colored fuzz was visible on the mower's bottom. Spears poked at it with the sharp tip of his hedge trimmer, a big clump coming free to land on the floor. "Knox, trimming carpets is not an authorized use of a death scythe!"

"I know, William-san." The blonde said sheepishly with his eyes downcast. "It … it was an accident."

"How does one accidentally mow a carpet?" Spears asked. He held a black gloved hand up in the air, his palm facing Knox. "Don't answer. I don't want to know what you were doing. It's bad enough I have problems with Sutcliffe. And speaking of Sutcliffe, where is he?"

"I don't think he'll be coming in today?" Ronald guessed.

"Good. It seems I'll have enough problems with you today. Now go clean that up and get that horrid fuzz off of your clothing!"

Ronald jumped to do as he was told, eager to get his death scythe in working order so he could collect his souls for the day without any overtime. He just hoped it would work as it should once he cleaned it.

000

That afternoon Ciel found himself dancing with Grell. To his relief, the Shinigami had apparently misplaced his chainsaw and now he couldn't threaten him or so he hoped. He gripped the redhead's waist with one hand and his other hand was entwined with Grell's fingers. He forced a fake smile on his face as they moved around the room in time to the music, Sebastian standing off to one side in his teaching spectacles and with his pointer in his hand.

"One two three four, one two three four…" the demon said in a steady rhythm.

The young earl had to admit that the dancing was growing easier, probably because of the repetition. He just had to watch out for walls because if he didn't he'd waltz his partner right into one. That had been funny for about five seconds and he was lucky he hadn't been bit. Luckily, he had blamed it on his inexperience. He had made his face as innocent as possible and had asked "Aren't you supposed to be teaching me these things?" and it had worked. But they had been dancing for what seemed like hours and his feet were starting to get tired.

"Bocchan, dinner should be ready soon." Sebastian announced without warning. "Grell-san, feel free to join us after your hard work."

"Really Sebas-chan?" Grell looked truly surprised at the invitation. "You're inviting me to dinner?"

Ciel decided that the dinner must be part of the bribe to get him to teach the dancing. He stepped away from the redhead, glad to be finished with the constant waltzing and spinning. It was enough to make him dizzy. "I'm done with the lessons for today. What are we having for dinner?"

"We have some splendid beef cooked on the grill in a lovely tangy sauce, Bocchan. I am sure you will love it." The demon smiled and spread out his arm towards the dining room, indicating that Ciel should lead the way.

The earl seated himself at the table, which was set out to his satisfaction. There were perfect red roses in crystal vases, the silverware gleamed and the crystal glasses for wine was spotless. All in all it was what he expected from Sebastian. Then a thought occurred to him. "If you were supervising us in the dancing, who was cooking? The food had better not be burnt!"

The demon smiled and bowed to the young boy. "Fear not. Bardroy was forced to use the grill outside. I am sure it is impossible to burn meat on the grill, My Lord."

"I hope you're right. All of that dancing made me hungry." Truthfully, he was famished. He just wasn't used to so much physical activity.

Bardroy came into the room then pushing the silver serving cart. On it there was a huge covered platter, but it was not covered with the usual round metal dome, no, this was some odd-shaped covering of something else. Ciel narrowed his blue eye suspiciously as he stared at the covering. Was that a bedsheet? Was it some type of paper? Whatever it was, it was poking high up into the air, a lot higher than any roast meat had a right to. Ciel frowned, knowing already without even looking that the stupid cook had goofed it up and dinner would be ruined.

But then the smell hit his nose and his mouth started to water. It smelled delicious, better than it had any right to if Bardroy had been the one to cook it. His hope at a decent meal inched upward.

"I did it just like you told me to, Sebastian!" Bardroy said with a crooked grin as he easily lifted the heavy silver plate onto the table, the meal still covered by the mysterious white wrapping. "I added the spices and that sauce you provided. It cooked like a charm!"

"Why is it so tall?" Grell asked from where he sat at the table, pleased he was invited to dine with the earl even if he was a brat. "A roast cannot be that tall…"

"Err, well, that…" Bardroy chewed on his cigarette, stalling for time. "There was a slight hitch at the beginning I guess you could say…"

"Bardroy…" Sebastian stated in a cold voice.

The cook began to look nervous as he eyed the demon butler, sensing he was about to get into trouble. "It's a special cut of meat is what it is! Yeah, that's it! It's like one of them there cakes that's got a prize in it! The person to get the prize, well, they win the prize!"

"What foolish thing did you do now?" Sebastian demanded to know. "Honestly, how hard can it be to grill meat?"

"Just think of it being more fun this way!" The cook replied as he reached out for the covering. With a whoosh, he pulled the fabric off to reveal the huge hunk of grilled beef covered in tangy red barbecue sauce resting on the fine silver platter, the red handled chainsaw sticking right out of the middle and pointing upward.

"My death scythe!" Grell cried upon seeing it stuck in the roasted meat, leaping halfway out of his chair. "You cooked it?!"

Ciel sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I had been wondering where that thing vanished to…"

"That thing came with the meat. Honest." Bardroy grinned, hoping he would be believed. "It's jammed in there good, too. Couldn't get it out."

Sebastian sighed but reached for the serving knife. It was clear Grell would be going home with the "prize".

The End

Author's Note: my original idea for the story was just the first chapter, but then I decided I should write a "sequel" to explain what happened to Ronald's lawn mower and so this part was written. I admit I had fun thinking of crazy things for the servants to do with the death scythes. I even had to look up the proper term for Alan's as "Garden Slasher" is not a common item here.


End file.
